The present invention relates to a process for the production of ethylene oxide.
In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the exploration and utilisation of natural gas resources around the globe. A disadvantage of natural gas with respect to oil is the difficulty to transport large volumes of natural gas from the source to the market. One way of efficiently transporting natural gas is by liquefying the natural gas and to transport the liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Another way is to convert the methane in the natural gas to liquid derivatives, which can also be transported at relative ease. One liquid derivative of interest may for instance be monoethylene glycol (MEG). MEG is a liquid at room temperature and can therefore be suitably transported. MEG is produced by reacting ethylene oxide with water.
In WO200236532, a process for preparing ethylene oxide from methane is described. In the process of WO200236532, methane is converted to methanol, via syngas, and the methanol is subsequently converted to a product stream comprising ethylene via a Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process. The product steam comprises, in addition to ethylene, also paraffinic compounds, such as ethane. The production of ethane as a by-product in said ethylene production process is for example also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,369 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,580.
These paraffinic compounds are separated from the ethylene prior to sending the ethylene to the ethylene oxidation unit. The ethane is typically sent as fuel to a furnace. However, the separation of ethane from ethylene leads to loss of ethylene as part of the ethylene will be removed together with the ethane, in particular if a high purity of the ethylene is sought. Consequently, ethylene oxide and thus MEG yields of the process, based on the methane provided, are reduced.